Babylon

The Babylon cinema in Berlin’s Mitte neighborhood was built in 1928 during the Weimar Republic. With its sharp angles and bold geometry, it stood as a classic example of expressionism. More distinct were the sounds that filled the hall. Opened as a silent film theater, its screenings were accompanied by the largest cinema organ in Berlin. These were used to enhance silent films, by roaring like the sea or pounding and chugging like a train, when appropriate.

The organ was silenced for decades, due to the triumph of sound films, then to the destruction of World War II. But in the 1990s, the Babylon underwent a complex and lengthy overhaul. Fixing the dismantled organ was the largest obstacle to restoration, and was made possible by a carpenter and engineer named Hans Eichberg.

Eichberg was better known for having handcrafted the GDR’s first automatic washing machine. But he loved organs, and in his youth, he had attended the Babylon and climbed through the windows of shattered churches to check on their instruments.

When the cinema reopened, it did so without its defining organ. There was no budget to restore it— the lowest estimate had come in at fifty thousand euros. So Eichberg, at seventy-five years old, offered to repair it for free. He spent most of the rest of his days in the organ room, restoring 913 organ pipes (the smallest measuring 1 centimeter, the largest 3 meters, or over 10 feet) plus its 34 special effects.

Thanks to Eichberg and organist Anna Vavilkina, the organ can bang together to amplify galloping cowboys and evoke rain, thunder, or chirping birds. True to its origins, Kino Babylon continues to host a robust schedule of retrospectives and regular programming. Free silent movies are offered every Saturday at midnight, carrying Eichberg’s spirit as soon as the organ starts to play.

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